Hawks Blank Hull, Blues

November 13, 1992|By Mike Kiley.

If St. Louis` Brett Hull was paid by the shot when he played the Blackhawks, he would need to borrow bus fare to get home.

He had one shot Oct. 10 in the Blues` 3-0 loss in St. Louis and four shots Thursday night in their 1-0 setback at the Stadium. He raced goalie Ed Belfour to the right post in the closing minutes and failed to jam the puck past him.

That`s not exactly the way a first-class son of ``the Golden Jet`` is expected to travel. After all, Bobby Hull`s offspring is fitted with the same kind of supersonic engine as his dad.

But the National Hockey League`s top goal scorer the last three seasons has played two games against the Hawks this season and never even taken off, let alone reached his normal lofty heights-this even though Hull started the night with an NHL-high 88 shots on goal in 16 games. Problem is, they produced only seven goals.

Of course, the Hawks don`t have the usual kind of defense. They strangled the Blues on 10 shots in the first two periods of this game.

Belfour became the first goalie this season to register two shutouts. He also blanked Toronto 1-0 last week on home ice and appears to be settling into a rhythm that made him the Vezina Trophy winner two years ago.

The Hawks have won four games in a row and have fashioned an impressive record of 6-1-2 in their last nine. This was their third shutout of the season; Jimmy Waite earned the other one earlier one this year against the Blues.

It has been a good week so far. The Hawks overcame Mario Lemieux and the rest of the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 7-2 victory last Sunday before mastering Hull & Co.

In the second period Thursday, Christian Ruuttu showed Blues defenseman Lee Norwood a key move to the outside as he skated into the St. Louis zone. He then cut inside and saw Jocelyn Lemieux in position for a pass in the left circle.

Lemieux gathered in the puck and fired the only goal of the game in the period`s final minute. Dave Christian also assisted, getting the puck to Ruuttu as they left the Hawks` end.

Lemieux has four goals, only two short of his totals each of the last two seasons as a Hawk.

Kevin Miehm might have scored a St. Louis goal in the second period if the puck had bounced right for him. But he couldn`t keep the puck on his stick after collecting a pass outside the right crease.

Miehm would have an easier lift shot over the prone Belfour. Instead, he swept a backhander that went under the goalie`s legs, but was stopped by the right post.

The Hawks narrowly missed two good scoring chances in the opening stages of the third period. Igor Kravchuk shot over the net when the Hawks had Curtis Joseph scrambling to set up after falling to the ice in a collision with Michel Goulet.

Seconds later, Joseph made a good save on a Mike Hudson tip shot.

The Blues only got two shots on net in the first period, and Belfour didn`t have do anything special to stop the pair. Maybe the Blues` best chance to score before the first intermission was one of the several pucks they shot wide on 2-on-1 breaks into the Hawks zone.

The Hawks weren`t outmanned very often in their end. Their biggest letdown in the period had to be failing to score on three power plays that lasted 5 minutes 14 seconds, especially based on the fact the Blues skated on only one extra-man attack for 1:14.

That chance came from St. Louis` shorthanded work. Steve Larmer took the Hawks off a power play late in the period, needing to hook Murray Baron from behind to slow his progress toward Belfour. It stopped the Blue from getting a stick on the puck, and Belfour covered the play before anyone could follow up. Adam Bennett nearly fooled Blues Joseph before Larmer`s penalty erased the 5-on-4. The defenseman led the way into the offensive zone at mid-blue line and cracked a slapshot that Joseph rejected with a right leg kick.

Stephane Matteau was in good position near the net on the first power play to make Joseph glove his backhander. But the Hawks couldn`t sustain any pressure.

The Hawks were fortunate to get one of their early power plays. Replays of referee Bill McCreary`s cross-checking call on Bob Bassen revealed some good acting by Jeremy Roenick, who spun around to catch the ref`s attention after mild contact.